


Alma Mater

by andvega003



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 22:10:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andvega003/pseuds/andvega003
Summary: In which Alina is a journalism major forced to cover the politics section, leading to a discovery of her incredible talent for it and her attraction to the Student Counci'ls President, of course.





	Alma Mater

**Author's Note:**

> I've been going down the rabbit hole of Alarkling fanfiction and thought of this little AU piece. It might live enough to become super serious (and smutty?) but who the hell knows.

She couldn't believe her luck. The room was stuffy and reeked of bad coffee, the kind the professors drank only because it was free. She kept doodling in her notebook, waiting for the cursed meeting to start. It was very much like Sergei to get "sick" two weeks before the winter break. Too convenient to be believable. But of course, that was only if you knew Sergei. The counselor had thought nothing of it. Alina and the paper staff knew better and had the worst suspicions. And Sergei wasn't discreet, it wouldn't be long before a photo from Aspen surfaced on Instagram. Or even from Switzerland. Alina hoped it was Switzerland. Crossing the Atlantic would at least be a fair justification for making her cover the last Student Council meeting of the year.

Why would anyone waste their time on this? PolSci majors, of course. And future law school people. She also identified a couple of engineers from her statistics class back in freshman year. She thought of the game happening across campus and sighed. Maybe she could watch the livestream undetected.

The little group of what she guessed were VIPs appraised the audience and decided to begin. A blond, tall guy stood behind the podium and confirmed they had quorum. He looked nice enough. The kind of face that looked good in posters and behind headlines. She could see him as an actor, he was handsome enough to fulfill a million girls' fantasies. But he also looked kind and open. Good qualities for a politician.

"Welcome, dearest council members. As you all know this is our last meeting of the year. We're most grateful for your efforts, this has been a period filled with success. The whole student body is grateful for your representation."

Alina couldn't think of a single moment where she had been aware of said representation. She did not even know there were elections. She regretted not preparing for this. It had been short notice, yes. But she should have at least honored the profession she hoped to practice and done her research. With that in mind, she started taking notes like a mad woman, she would figure out later what this was all about. Being a rookie journalist meant she had to take these random assigments and hope for the best.

Good thing the meeting was nothing but a quick pat in the back for the Council, since blond finished rather fast. According to the agenda she had stolen from her oblivious neighbor, blonde was VP Nikolai Lantsov. She imagined there was, must be, a relation to the Lantsov family, the oldest family in the Senate.

Silence fell in the room and Alina looked up, confused. She had been too caught up to notice the shadow of a group of people hovering outside the glass doors. Then said doors opened to reveal the President of the University, followed by the Provost and a most welcome sight. Perfect, regal, cold and so beautiful. There were more adjectives where that came from, her English teacher would be proud. She could fill an entire notebook with descriptions of this guy. Pale skin, silver eyes, dark hair. But there was also a presence about him as he came last into the room, it was even more attractive than his looks. He commanded everyone's attention, and she could swear even the President was being deferential, anticipating his moves to get out of his way.

What was the President doing here anyway? Alina had only recognized him from the campus website and the paper's photos of him. But here he was in a small student meeting, no more than 40 students and not a camera in sight. Well, she was there, a member of the press. But she did not think Sergei had ever mentioned this Council being so important. To be quite honest she was starting to doubt Sergei even came to these meetings at all. This was too intriguing not to research and hopefully write about.

The President thanked the Council in what was a very good rendition of Lantsov's speech. He must have gotten pre-prepared lines and practiced them a bit. Nonetheless, the students listened like it was the first time. It wasn't clear if that was out of respect to the President or to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. He was pinning everyone down with his stare, even more intimidating than the highest authority on campus in a perplexing way. Alina wondered exactly what about him exuded such power.

As if feeling her own stare, his eyes were on hers in a second. She tried to remember she was not a little girl sneaking to a secret meeting but his questioning eyes made her feel inadecuate. He must know everyone already. He must be wondering who she was. Could he actually kick her out? There was a very disapproving vibe coming from him and Alina had to remind herself she had every right to be there. She could write about him, she thought. His photo would look great in black and white. She could frame it and if this were still high school she'd put it in her locker. Now that she was a woman she could even take it further. Her thoughts must be reflected clearly on her face because he rewarded her with a disarming smile. She swallowed through the lump in her throat. It was unnerving how fast he turned a murderous stare into a charming gesture.

As soon as it had started, the meeting ended with thundering applause. Alina blinked out of her reveries and stood up in a rush, feeling dazed. She had not taken a single note after the President showed up. A model journalist, she thought grinding her teeth. She blamed him of course. But when she looked again he was shaking hands with the staff and waving the council members to approach. One by one they filed out and greeted the faculty members. A festive air filled the room as they started heading out, in all likeness as glad as her to be out at last. She started packing her stuff. It took her a while to lean down, unplug her phone's charger, and put it away. She wished she'd known it was a 15 minute thing. Maybe she could still make it to the game. She looked up to find Lantsov approaching her with a big smile.

"Hello, I'm sure we haven't met. I would remember you" He extended a friendly hand and she had to admit she was charmed by his friendly demeanor and blue eyes.

"Alina Starkov, from the paper" she replied in what she hoped was a professional manner. "

The last meeting is always short but we're glad you made it. The usual guy only shows up for snacks and they're not even that good."

So Sergei was playing hooky. What an ass.

"Well, if you make a commitment to improve on them I'll try to show up next time." She did not want him to think he caught her by surprise. She could hold this over Sergei's head, if Lantsov didn't rattle him first. She needed him to think this was regular procedure.

"I'll see what I can do, but I must tell you I'm very incentivized to have a beautiful reporter come back for every meeting."

Alina could feel herself blushing. No one called her beautiful, ever. She was kind and committed and responsible and trustworthy. But she knew she was on the mousy and plain side. His compliment was baffling and she only managed to open her mouth slightly.

"Come on, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He added at seeing her displeasure. "But I do mean it, please come back for our January 10th meeting. I'll promise to have hot cocoa."

She watched as he turned and left the room. There were a couple stragglers still exchanging small talk. She regretted not being able to think of a single normal response to his words. But what was worse, she suspected she would need a couple of weeks and even some research to come up with a couple of lines for a retort. Pathetic.

Suddenly one of the last people in the room turned and caught sight of her with an appreciative smile.

"Alina!" he waved his arms like a windmill, as if they were miles away instead of only a couple of feet.

"Hi Alexei!" His familiar face was very welcome to her. Alexei had been her high school classmate and had become a good friend. Sadly, college had made them drift apart but it was the kind of friendship where it was easy to pick up right where it was left, even with years of separation in the middle.

Alina was thrilled to hear they were heading to the stadium to catch the last of the game, and spent the rest of the walk reliving not Lantsov's compliment (thought it was sure to give her a few nightmares), but the smile that she received as a gift from the gods. A part of her, deep inside, kept asking her to remember the grimace that had preceded it and how unnerving it had been. But that was all forgotten when she suddenly recalled: she didn't even know who he was. But what kind of journalist would she be if she didn't find out soon? 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, Alina can fill a notebook with adjectives but I certainly cannot. We all know his good looks ok? Moving on. Really appreciate your kudos/comments.


End file.
